Send Off
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: How else would Laxus spend his last day at home before taking a long job than with the Thunder Legion and the Strauss siblings? Well, he could think of a few ways... - One-shot, set in Last Month series.


Send Off

Laxus hummed softly as he took to changing the child's diaper. It would never be something he didn't hate, but over the past year or so, he'd gotten used to it. And Mira promised that they'd start on potty training soon which would put an end to that. Honestly, it was the only thing about his baby that he didn't like.

Well, he could do without the hair pulling and those late night feedings that Mira somehow just accidentally woke him up for also back a couple months ago, but other than that, Laxus was pretty much in love with his baby.

"Lana," he sighed as she made noises back at him. "You feel better now? Huh? Little baby. You were feelin' all nasty, huh? Poor hatchling. Little baby. I- Lana! Do you smell that?"

The baby giggled at his tone and the way his head shot up. He mistook her laughter for misunderstanding him (which was odd, considering for the most part she couldn't understand him to begin with).

"Not _that_ ," he told her, nodding at where he'd tossed the dirty diaper in the trashcan. "That. The scent of… No, it can't be. They wouldn't bother me today. Would they bother me today?" He paused. Then he nodded. "They would. Dang it."

Lana only kicked her feet at him though before trying to roll away. No need for another diaper, she figured. They sucked. Laxus though had other plans and grabbed her gently, making her only giggle more.

"We gotta be serious right now," he told her as he moved to get her all set again. "I know you don't like diapers, but we don't got time to argue. _They're_ here."

Lana didn't know who _they_ were, but she was happy when Laxus got finished with her. It wasn't until she was feeling fresh though. He didn't want his little hatchling uncomfortable, after all.

She wiggled though, as he left the upstairs bathroom to head down the stairs. She wanted down! To be free! But they were going downstairs and, though she'd been working on walking, there was no way that she was making it near those without being in his arms. He didn't trust those plastic gates Mirajane put up, to keep her from falling. Not at all. He just wasn't a risk taker when it came to Lana.

She was so small and tiny, after all.

No. Lana was just much safer in his arms. Forever.

Did she really have to walk? Was that a necessity? He'd have to bring that up to Mirajane later.

"I knew it," he growled as he made it into the kitchen where the woman in question was housing the fugitives. And by fugitives, he totally meant Evergreen and Elfman. "I could smell you."

"Well, I bathed today, if that's what you're insinuating," Elfman grumbled. "Unless you smelled my manly-"

"Elf," Ever sighed. She was over at the kitchen table with Mirajane and clearly looked like she was planning on staying awhile. "And Laxus, Mirajane invited us over."

"What?" He growled. "Demon, today is the last day I have with Lana before I go out on my-"

"Job," she finished. "I know."

"Then why-"

"Well," Mira said with a smile. "It's gonna be such a long S-Class job that I thought that you would want to spend it with your friends."

"Fr- Wait." He glared at her then as Elfman came to snatch Lana from his arms. Laxus was so intent on glaring at his wife that he let her go easy. "Who else did you invite, Mirajane?"

"Hmmm?"

"Ever's my friend," he said to which the woman grinned. "Elfman's not."

"Laxus-"

"But you said friends. Very clearly." He was shooting daggers then. "Who else did you invite?"

"Just the family."

"You, the baby, and Gramps are my family. Who did you invite?"

"Laxus-"

"Who, Mira?"

"Well," she said, cupping the coffee mug that sat in front of her as she grinned, blue eyes alight. "You're forgetting that Elf is family. He's your brother."

"He is not-"

"Real men visit their brothers," Elfman agreed though he didn't look up, too busy making faces at Lana. "And their nieces."

"And Lisanna's your sister-"

"What? Mirajane, you didn't-"

"-and she's with Bickslow," the woman went on. "So he has to come too, of course."

"Of course," Elfman agreed. Laxus just frowned.

"I banned the two of them from this place," he growled. "After last time."

"Laxus-"

"Wait," Ever said, holding up a hand. "How do I not know about this last time? What happened last time? Somebody?"

"That's because Laxus has sworn everyone to secrecy," Mirajane told her with a grin. "I haven't even told…um…"

"Mirajane." The slayer's throat was having a horrible day. "Who did you tell, woman?"

"W-Well, you swore me to secrecy, so-"

"Who?"

"Lucy," she said slowly. "And Cana. And, oh, Happy, but that was only because he just enjoys gossip as much as me and, really, I think he's the only one that gets me."

Laxus blinked. Then he growled. "What, demon, do you think secrecy means?"

"I tried, Lax, really, but-"

The doorbell was ringing then and, with a shout, Laxus got out, "Go away, Bickslow! Lisanna! The demon made a mistake. You're still banned!"

"It is not Bickslow, Laxus." The front door opened. "It's me. I-"

"Mira." Laxus was still glaring at her. "How is Freed family?"

"How is Freed not family?"

The letter mage in question rushed into the kitchen. "Am I late? To the party? I thought-"

"It's not a party," Laxus said. "It's-"

"It kinda is," Mira told him with a smile. "Or, more like, a family get-together."

"Demon, you're killing me."

"Let's get back to the secrecy thing," Ever said as Laxus, noting Elfman was still holding his baby, went to get her back. Elfman complained, but Mira let it go. After all, Lana usually calmed the man down.

It wasn't the case that day though, it seemed.

"Let's talk, instead, Ever," Laxus growled as Lana snuggled up to him, "about how you guys are planning these…get-togethers behind my back!"

"Secrecy?" Freed's interest was peaked. "What-"

"Bickslow and Lisanna did something," the woman told him, "and Mirajane and Laxus won't tell us about it."

"Oh." Freed frowned. "You don't know?"

"Know?" Laxus growled some more. "Demon-"

"Freed and I are best friends," Mirajane insisted. "He gets me too. I had to tell him."

"He gets you," Laxus repeated. "Freed. And Happy. They get you."

"Uh-huh. Tell him, Freed," she prodded. "Tell him about how we get one another?"

"W-Well," Freed said slowly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Mirajane and I both enjoy the same things."

"Such as?" Laxus prompted.

"You, of course."

Mirajane nodded. "You're our favorite subject."

"Would someone," Evergreen complained as Elfman, dejected, came to take a seat at the table as well, "just tell me what the big secret is? Please?"

"Well-"

"No, demon," Laxus growled. "You keep your trap shut."

"Laxus-"

"No! I get no respect around here anymore and I-"

"Dede." Lana was patting at his face then. "Dede?"

That was her favorite word. Daddy. Err…dede, as it was, but whatever. The point was that it was the one she liked the best. Because she liked him the best.

It was just a given.

"I'm yelling right now," he told her with a frown. "Hold on."

Lana only whined though until with a groan he moved to kiss her head as well as turn away from the others.

"Hatchling," he whispered. "I'm busy, alright? Once I get them out of here, we'll play. Alright?"

"I'm confused," Elfman said as he glanced around the table from his girlfriend to sister. "Does he not think that we can hear him or is he-"

"Shush," Ever told him., as she usually did when he said something about her idol.

"Yeah, Elf," Mirajane agreed. "I think it's cute. And, uh, manly."

"Manly, huh?"

"Completely."

"Uh, Laxus?" Freed wasn't concerned with the other three. "Perhaps-"

"Do you," the slayer grumbled, "or do you not see me conversing with my baby over here, Freed? Huh?"

"W-Well-"

"Because you know better than to be messing that up, don't you, Freed?"

"I-"

"Laxus, just come sit down," Mira told him. "Or let's all go in the living room, huh? And Elf, can you go call the dogs in from the backyard? Please? I'm sure they'd love to know that everyone's here."

"No," Laxus growled. "No to the dogs and no to everyone staying. They- Lana. Here. You want down?"

He bent down then to drop the baby gently on the floor. She only giggled before holding her hands out, trying to balance, but ending up failing. That was okay though as she only fell forwards to rest her palm against his legs and steady some before grinning up at the man.

"Dede."

The man patted her on the head, her white locks soft against his flesh, before glaring over his shoulder at the others.

"Why," he grumbled, "are you guys still here?"

"Laxus." Mira wasn't kidding anymore. "You're being rude to our guests. To our family."

Grunt.

"Apologize. Now."

"No."

"Dragon-"

"I'm not gonna-"

"Apologize for-"

"Fine! I'm sorry that you all suck so much and are so bored without me that you have to stalk me constantly," he growled. "I'm sorry that I would rather spend my last hours in Magnolia with my daughter instead of entertaining the masses. Is that what you want, Mirajane? Is it?"

"Well," she said slowly. "Not exactly, but-"

There it was. The doorbell again.

"Laxus-"

"No." He gently made Lana sit down on her butt before heading off. "I told them not to come around."

"And I invited them over."

"And I," he growled as the doorbell rang some more, "am going to uninvited them."

"You're being a bully."

"Mirajane." Freed frowned at her then. "Please. This is hard for Laxus. What Bickslow and Lisanna saw-"

"What," Ever complained, "did they see? Would someone tell me? Please?"

"Secrecy," Mira told her simply.

"You told Freed!"

"He's family," the woman said. Elfman only frowned.

"And me and Ever aren't?"

"You're a different kind of family," she told them. "You and Elf are a little family, Ever-"

"Uh, no, we're definitely not."

"-then Bickslow and Lisanna and their babies," she said. "And, of course, me, Lax, and Lana, but Freed's with us."

"How so?"

"Well…um… Who else would he be with?"

"I'm not saying that I want him," Ever insisted. "Or that this even works the way you're saying."

"It does."

"But why would he be a part of-"

"Do not fight this, Ever." Freed grinned at Mira then, glad not so much for being lumped in with her and her daughter, but rather with Laxus. And by his wife, no less. Ha! "I should practically move in with-"

"Demon!" Laxus wasn't that far out of the kitchen, apparently. "Stop talking to them. Every single time you talk to them, something bad happens. First you invite them over, then you tell them about the…thing-"

"I just told Freed."

"-and now you're inviting one of them to live with us? Are you crazy?"

"No, but-"

"Stop ringing the doorbell you big idiots!" Laxus was done with the kitchen then as, finally, he made it to the front door. "I can hear it!"

Lana, who was still in the kitchen and had managed to get back to her feet, was working diligently to walk across the tile and head over to the doorway, to follow after Laxus. It wasn't going so well. When she fell over, she didn't cry or anything. Nope. She had to get back to Laxus, after all. All that crawling wouldn't get done by itself.

From over by the table, Mira just sighed. "Elf, my dogs?"

"Right, sis."

"About this secrecy-" Evergreen tried again, but she was cut off by a loud yell from the living room.

"Mirajane! Your stupid husband just shocked Bickslow!"

"Oy, boss! You could have electrocuted me to death! That was powerful! Why did you-"

"What the hell did you think I was trying to do, ya damn freak?"

"You're trying to kill me?"

"How much more obvious do I have to be?"

"Mira," Lisanna called again. "Come get him. He's going to hurt-"

"Dragon." Mirajane just shook her head. "Come here."

"After I finish with-"

" _Now_."

And there was no play in that tone. None at all. Which was rather shocking as Elfman had finally gotten the dogs, Tenjin and Raijin, to run inside, the pups ignoring the others as they made a beeline for their mother. They were stupid, for the most part, but not by that much. They knew who gave them belly rubs and made sure that the big, bad dragon didn't euthanize them.

Laxus came stomping back into the kitchen about the time that Lana made it to the doorway. He only leaned down to pick her up before heading over to the table.

"Dragon," Mira sighed as she stared at him. "Bickslow and Lisanna are staying."

"Mira-"

"They are." Then, in a louder voice, she called out, "You can come in now, guys. He won't hurt you."

"Promise?" they heard Lisanna respond.

"Of course, Lisanna."

"You have to say it," Bickslow ordered. "Or it ain't real."

"Ain't real," the dolls agreed. "Ain't real."

"Promise," the demon sighed as Laxus, all growled out, went to get him a beer out of the fridge. "Honestly, you guys. We're all family. We should be able to have a nice, peaceful few hours together-"

"Hours?" Laxus about choked on that beer. The baby in his arms giggled from the expression on his face. "Mirajane-"

"Let's just all go in the dining room," she suggested as, clearly cautious, a disheveled and helmet-less Bickslow peeked into the kitchen, Lisanna and his babies with him. "Where we can all sit and talk. And Elf? Can you cut up an apple or something for Lana? Please? And Lisanna-"

"I want to talk about how Bickslow was just assaulted by-"

"-get a bottle of wine out of the cabinet," she said as her younger sister sent glares at the Thunder God. "And Freed? Get some glasses, okay? And something for Laxus to snack on."

Then Mirajane just got to her feet before going to take her daughter from Laxus and walk off for the dining room, her dogs following.

"Quickly, guys."

Ever just frowned. "Since when do we all take orders from-"

"Since," Freed sighed, going to do as asked, "she got with Laxus."

Bickslow nodded as the man in question just continued to glare down at his beer. "It comes with the title of Mrs. Boss."

Mirajane was nice enough to let Lana sit with Laxus in the dining room. She even let him sit at the head of the table. And Freed had made him some sandwiches, which kept him distracted. He was even allowed to get his headphones (more like send Ever off to fetch them for him) to keep him sedated and quiet.

It wasn't how he would have wanted to spend his time, but it was better than nothing.

Lana really liked her snack. And Laxus liked watching her eat it. She was so cute with her chubby little fingers and the way that she'd chew and just… She was the only person in the world to him. Totally. Everyone else was a non factor. Even the demon. Sure, she came a little above the others, but not by much.

His little hatchling was just perfect.

Then Ever had to go and speak.

"About this secret," she tried, once more. The woman had given it a few minutes, enough time for Mirajane to have a few sips of wine, Bickslow relax again somewhat, and for Elfman to make a fool of himself by not being able to pop the cork on one of the bottles (Mira had Lisanna bring more than one in there).

It seemed as good a time as any.

"Secret?" Bickslow perked up. "Is it about Lissy? Is that she's secretly a drug lord that has tons of money and power? Knew it. Only reason I got with her. Learn to keep up, Ever."

His girlfriend didn't glance at him. Just shook her head. "I'm sure she's talking about when we saw Laxus-"

'Bah, bah, bah!" The slayer's head shot up. "What did we say about that, Lisanna?"

"Did he just…bah me?"

"A lot," Bickslow said with a nod. "I think it means he likes you."

"Of course he does," Mira said as she took another sip of wine. "He loves his little sister. Don't you, dragon?"

He just glared at the woman. "Don't you dare speak, Lisanna."

"I wasn't even going to-"

"Don't."

"Why won't someone just tell me?" Evergreen crossed her arms. "This is not fair. I haven't done anything to be treated like an outcast. I mean, Laxus, seriously, Freed knows. And Bickslow's the one that did it. The only other one that doesn't know is Elfman and I don't want to be stuck with him."

"Stuck?" Elfman repeated. "What-"

"You're not stuck with him," the slayer told her. "You chose him. You did that. Not me."

"Someone just-"

"Lisanna used her old key to get into the house," Mirajane sighed, "because I told her to stop by and make sure that Raijin and Tenjin had water and were alright. I thought that Laxus had taken Lana out for the day and I was working, so-"

"Demon! Stop this! Now! You-"

"Laxus had requested this remain secret," Freed was quick to add in, having the same tone as the Dragon Slayer. "You mustn't-"

"-she and Bickslow came in, unannounced," Mirajane went on like it was nothing, hardly even taking the time to glance at the enraptured Evergreen, "to find Laxus-"

"Mira, just stop. I-"

"-singing and dancing for Lana."

Elfman blinked. "That's it?"

Bickslow, fearful of retribution from his idol, but also wanting to get his chance to speak, said simply, "You should've been there. That's all I'll say."

Lisanna, who wasn't nearly as fearful of Laxus, nodded ecstatically. "It was great, Elf! He was doing all these silly dance moves and was singing at, like, the top of his lungs and-"

"Wait." Evergreen frowned. "If he was doing that, you should have been able to hear him before you came in."

"You're point?" Bickslow asked.

"Then why did you still come in if-"

"Uh, Ever," Lisanna said with a frown, "if you heard him singing the way he was, you'd have come in to investigate too. I thought one of the dogs was dying or something."

"Or something," Mirajane sighed.

"I hate this place." Laxus slumped back in his seat. "I try to just spend special time with my baby and what do you all do? Either interrupt it or make fun of it. You know, I could just not care. Is that what you guys want from me? Huh? For me to not care? Because I can. Just like a switch. I- Oh, Lana. Are you okay?"

No! She was so stuck on him talking and was trying to listen while munching on some apple slices that she bit her tongue and it hurt and she just-

"Dede!"

"What happened?" Laxus just looked down at her before leaning down to nuzzle his head against hers. She wasn't bleeding or anything. Just hurtin'. That was all. "Huh?"

"Like a switch, right?" Elfman snorted. "Lana doesn't need you to baby her! She's a man!"

Laxus still was snuggling the girl up to him, but did grumbled out, "Don't mess with me, Elfboy. I ain't in the mood."

The dogs were upset from her whines and came over to investigate and Mirajane leaned over in her chair to try to take the girl. Laxus waved her and the dogs off though before getting to his feet.

"Me and Lana need some time alone," he told them all. "Away from you idiots. Look what you did! You made her cry."

"She keeps sticking out her tongue," Ever told him. "She probably hurt it."

"She does bite it sometimes," Lisanna offered.

"Bah!" Laxus turned on his heel. "We don't have time for your stupid guesses and worthless inquiries. This is your party, demon. You deal with it. Me and Lana are gonna go find something else to do. You know, where we won't be laughed at."

"No one laughed at you," she responded. "Dragon. They just-"

"They did too! Lisanna and Bickslow laughed at me when they found me singing and-"

"Well, yeah," Bickslow snickered as Lisanna openly giggled. "That was hilarious. Do it again, boss."

"Yeah," his girlfriend agreed. "Give us your best rendition of-"

"Guys." Mira gave them a look. "Seriously. And Laxus, that was days ago now. So-"

"They're doing it right now! I can see it."

"You're being paranoid again." He'd formed a problem with that recently. Mirajane figured it stemmed from the embarrassment he must have felt deep down about his relationship with Lana. She figured that it had a lot to do with Ivan and his absentee mother or something. He didn't think he was supposed to be so loving towards her, but for some reason, he just couldn't help it and it made him mortified when others found out.

Her little dragon was a little on the nutty side, but if she was being honest with herself, Mira would have to say that she was too.

"I don't care." He didn't either. "You guys all suck and I-"

"Laxus, no one cares," Lisanna groaned as Freed hung his head. He did find it funny. Not as hilarious as the others did, but he chuckled a little, the first time he heard about it.

Did that make him disloyal to Laxus? He sure hoped not.

"Yeah, Laxus," Evergreen said with a slight smile. "You know that I think it's…cute that you love your daughter so much. That's how it's supposed to be."

Elfman grunted. "Could be a bit more manly about it, but- Ow, Ever!"

She only pinched him again. "Knock it off. Laxus is just a good father. And it's wrong for someone to penalize him for that."

Freed was quick to nod. "I would love to have a father like Laxus. Or to have a child with Laxus."

"Please," Bickslow pleaded through his laughter and Lisanna's giggles, "say that came out wrong, Freed. Please."

"I-I only meant-"

"The point," Mirajane said, staring over at her husband who had turned around to face them once more, "is that we all love you, Laxus. And we know that you love Lana. That's okay. You can be silly for your baby. It's cute. And yeah, sometimes it makes us laugh, but as long as we're laughing with you, what does it hurt?"

He took a moment or two before, slowly, coming back over to the table. Lana had calmed down and taken to sucking on her thumb, vowing to never eat apples again…err, maybe just for the rest of the day. The baby just snuggled up to her father and settled out to be held some more.

There was no one more comforting than her daddy. No one.

And when it was all said and done that night and everyone was gone, Laxus wouldn't say that he had…fun, really, but he hadn't _not_ had fun either. Would he have rather spent all day with just the demon, his baby, and (if he had to) the dogs? Sure. Of course. That was his perfect day right there.

But the others weren't so bad. Even if Elfman was annoying, Freed was creepy, Ever was bitchy, Lisanna was bratty, and Bickslow was…well, he was Bickslow, they were still his family. Even when he didn't want to say it aloud.

"That's what you got me for," Mirajane told him that night as they settled out in bed. Lana was off asleep already and the dogs had been shut out of the room for the night.

He was going away for a bit the next morning, after all.

"Eh?" He'd relayed that bit to her, about not saying things aloud, and that's what she gave him. "Demon?"

"You," she said as she pushed him up against the headboard before moving to unbutton his shirt, rubbing herself up against him as often as she could, "feel things so deeply."

"I do?"

"You do," she said with a nod. "Everything affects you. You just hide it better. But me? I let things just fall off me. The things that do hit me though, I speaking loudly and passionately about. And watching you feel something gets to me. So when I see you feeling, I say something."

"Mmmm," he groaned as she only moved lower. He wouldn't be gone _that_ long, but if Mira wanted to go for it, what the hey? "You do?"

"Mmmhmm." Mirajane gave him that devious grin then, that one that he loved so much. "I speak for you, Lax, and you act for me. We're one unit. Did you forget?"

Running a hand over her thigh, he whispered, "Never, demon. Not once."

And he didn't. She was right, after all. They were one. Together. They had been for years. And sometimes the poor dragon just needed his demon to keep him leveled and from going off on a rampage.

Demons were good about that. Err, at least, his demon was. Then again, she was the only one that mattered anyhow.

As he drifted off later that night, Laxus just let Mirajane snuggle up to him even though he wasn't big on that, wrapping his arms tightly around the woman and, honestly, never planning on letting go.

Even if it wasn't the one that he wanted, that day had to have been one of the best send offs he'd had. And he couldn't wait to see what was awaiting him when he got back home.

* * *

 **Mmmm, I'm really into Last Month recently for some reason. And the stories really aren't anything, but Laxus acting super cute and super sweet with his baby. Oh, well. As long as you guys like them.**


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